
Rook .13 7 H fo 



FRANK W. COBURN, 

BOOK DEALER, 
LEXINGTON, M 






A SEMI-CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. 



emt-Centenmal ©tscourse 



BEFORE THE 



FIRST CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY 
IN BRIDGEWATER, 

Delivered on Lord's Day, 17TH September, 1871, 



BY 

RICHARD MANNING HODGES, 

A FORMER MINISTER OF THE SOCIETY. 



WITH HISTORICAL NOTES. 



CAMBRIDGE : 

PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON. 

MDCCCLXXI. 



/S9 

'CI 



£1* 






Dear Sir, 

In behalf of the members of the First Congregational 
Society in Bridgewater, I have the pleasure of tendering you their 
thanks for your very highly interesting Discourse, delivered on the 
Sunday following the fiftieth anniversary of your ordination as Pas- 
tor of that Society, and of requesting a copy of the Discourse for publi- 
cation. 

Very respectfully, I am, dear Sir, 

Yours, most truly, 

Artemas Hale. 

Bridgewater, September 23, 1S71. 
To Rev- Richard M. Hodges, Cambridge, Miss. 



To Hon. Artemas Hale. 

My dear Sir, — The spirit that prompted the preparation of the 
Discourse which you, and those wliom you so fitly represent, ask to 
have put into a permanent form, will, I trust, outlive appointed times 
and special occasions, and therefore I comply with your request. 
As in youth, so in age, 

Your friend, 

R. M. Hodges. 

Cambridge, October 20, 1871. 



THIS DISCOURSE, 



WITH ITS 



MEMORIES, AFFECTIONS, AND HOPES, 
IS DEDICATED TO THE 

;first Congregational £orict» in $ribgetoater, 

BY ITS FOURTH MINISTER, 

RICHARD MANNING HODGES. 
Cambridge, 1871. 



The day on which these proceedings took place was one of the 
most pleasant in the gift of Autumn, and the pulpit was decorated with 
flowers, the beautiful emblems of purity and love. 



(IDrfter of -Serpices*. 



VOLUNTARY BY ORGANIST. 



ANTHEM. 



PSALM XXIII. 



HYMN. Addison. 



WHEN all thy mercies, O my God ! 
My rising soul surveys, 
Transported with the view, I'm lost 
In wonder, love, and praise. 

Unnumbered comforts on my soul 

Thy tender care bestowed, 
Before my infant heart conceived 

From whom those comforts flowed. 



IO 

Ten thousand thousand precious gifts 

My daily thanks employ ; 
Nor is the least a cheerful heart 

That tastes those gifts with joy. 

Through every period of my life, 
Thy goodness I'll pursue ; 

And after death, in distant worlds, 
The glorious theme renew. 



SELECTION FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

"OUT the hour cometh and now is, when the true wor- 
shippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in 
truth : for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 

God is a Spirit : and they that worship him must wor- 
ship him in spirit and in truth. 

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the 
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. 

Ye believe in God, believe also in me. 

Now ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but 
fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of 
God ; 

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and 
prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner- 
stone. 

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will 
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his 
cross and follow me. 

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest. 



II 



Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am 
meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto 
your souls. 

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh 
away : and every branch that beareth fruit, he pruneth 
it that it may bring forth more fruit. 

For the tree is known by his fruit. 

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a 
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 

Wherefore by their fruits shall ye know them. Not 
every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter 
into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will 
of my Father which is in heaven. 

A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love 
one another, as I have loved you that ye also love one 
another. By this shall all men know that ye are my 
disciples, if ye have love one to another. 

In my Father's house are many mansions. I am going 
to prepare a place for you. And when I have been and 
prepared a place for you, I will come again and receive 
you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. 

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life : he that 
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; 
and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never 
die. 

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this 
mortal must put on immortality. 

So then when .this corruptible shall have put on incor- 
ruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, 
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, 
Death is swallowed up in victory. 



12 



O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy 
victory ? 

But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory 
through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

For we know that if our earthly house of this taber- 
nacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house 
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 

And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, 
Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from 
henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest 
from their labors ; and their works do follow them. 

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him 
that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst 
come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of 
life freely. 

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, 
keep your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus. 



PRAYER. 

f~\ THOU who wast our Father's God ! we worship 
Thee as our God. We thank Thee that from age 
to age Thou hast manifested Thyself as unchangeable in 
Thy perfections, as wise and righteous and paternal in 
Thy government. 

We praise and bless Thee, God of mercy and God of 
love, for the mission and work of Thy dearly beloved 
Son, in enlightening, regenerating, and blessing the 
world. We thank Thee for the sacred influences and 
beneficent results which the Gospel of Jesus Christ has 
exerted and accomplished in the ages that are past. 



i.3 



We pray that its elevating and transforming power may 
continue to be felt more and more, until the supremacy 
of truth and righteousness, of peace and love, shall be 
established on the earth. 

O Thou, the God of our youth and the God of our 
age ! we thank Thee for this hour. We thank Thee 
that Thy providence accompanies every moment of our 
existence. We thank Thee that every hour of life, if 
hallowed to holy ends, is associated with memories that 
never die, — memories that are the blessed harbingers of 
immortality. May the remembrances connected with this 
house of prayer, and these hearts elevated and expanded 
by the love of Thee and the spirit of Thy Son, be sanc- 
tified to us. 

O Thou Sovereign Arbiter of life and of death ! we 
adore the providence that has ordained that many whom 
we knew and loved, fathers and mothers, brothers and 
sisters, dear to our homes and to our hearts, should be 
summoned to go the way whence they shall no more 
return for ever, while the same providence has vouchsafed 
that we should live here yet longer, rejoicing in the light 
of each other's countenances, in the affections of each 
other's hearts, in the means of grace and in the hope 
of glory. Help us to be faithful to all the obligations 
which Thy mercy and love apportion to us. Help us 
wisely and well to improve all our opportunities. Help 
us faithfully and gratefully to use all our privileges. 

May the children of the fathers, who here worshipped 
from one sacred season to another, gather around this 
altar in humble and devout homage, praising Thee, the 
God and Father of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 
May they be united by the bond of a true and fervent 

3 



H 



faith, and by affections, aspirations, and hopes that, living 
in Thee, will never die. 

And may he, our brother, who is the ordained teacher 
and friend of this Christian communion, be a faithful 
servant of the true Master, earnestly desiring to be bap- 
tized with a baptism that shall receive the seal of the 
Holy Spirit. Here may he live, and here may he die, 
having finished a work over which the angels in heaven 
will rejoice, and leaving a memory that shall be sacred 
and sanctifying. 

May all who love our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, 
show by their spirit of charity and their works of benefi- 
cence the sincerity and strength of their love. 

May we learn from the study of Thy word, from the 
lessons of Thy providence, from communion with Thee, 
with continually increasing trust, and with an ever 
brightening hope, to say, Father, Thy will be done ! 

In the full assurance of faith in Thy dear Son, and of 
gratitude for the teachings, the consolations and hopes of 
His religion, we offer to Thee our prayers and praises, 
ascribing to Thee, the only God, supreme worship and 
glory everlasting. Amen. 



ANTHEM. 



DISCOURSE. 



LORD'S PRAYER. 



*5 



HYMN. Watts. 

TI7HEN I can read my title clear 

* * To mansions in the skies, 
I bid farewell to every fear, 
And wipe my weeping eyes. 

Let cares like a wild deluge come, 

And storms of sorrow fall, 
May I but safely reach my home, 

My God, my heaven, my all ! 

There shall I bathe my weary soul 

In seas of heavenly rest, 
And not a wave of trouble roll 

Across my peaceful breast. 



BENEDICTION. 

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, 
always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye 
know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, 
and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. 
Amen. 



At public worship in the evening, the pastor of the Society 
Rev. George Herbert Hosmer, presented, in the light of Chris- 
tianity, and in the benignity of Providence, the memorial event of 
the day. 



DISCOURSE. 



"And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year" 

Leviticus xxv. io. 

" I remember the days of old." — Psalm cxliii. 5. 
" Having obtained help from God, I continue to this day." — 
Acts xxvi. 22. 

/^~\N this occasion, which I dedicate to a public 
^-^ recognition of the fiftieth anniversary of 
my ordination to the Christian ministry, my first 
thought is due, and it is gratefully paid, to the 
Giver and Preserver of my life, for the providence, 
always full of tenderness and compassion, which 
has crowned my days. Although long since sepa- 
rated in official relation from the people whose 
spiritual interests were, on the 12th of September, 
1 82 1, committed to my charge, I have never been 
separated from them, or their successors, in the 
exercise of a true and sacred sympathy and love. 
Here, and to-day, in the presence of those who 
fitly represent the earnest men and women of the 
South Parish in Bridgewater of nearly two genera- 
tions ago, I would review the way as it has been 
marked out and consecrated by the hand of God, 



and revive the lessons of His administration, teach- 
ing with explicitness the laws of development, and 
presenting encouragements and hopes that look to 
the honor of humanity and to the glory of the 
Divine Kingdom. I am sure it is not needful for 
me, my hearers, to make any apology for the 
position which I this day assume, or to call up any 
other affections than those that already exist, to 
produce a hearty fellow-feeling in the service of 
this hour. 

In looking back upon the past, it is natural to 
remark upon the speed of time. Surely, firmly, 
uninterruptedly, days and weeks, months and years, 
roll on with unvarying motion, and in orderly 
succession. The revolutions of the planets are 
governed by established and positive laws. Were 
it not for the activities of the mind energized by 
its own inherent powers, and by the operations of 
the external world, we could have no conception 
of the meaning of time. In proportion as the mind 
is diligently occupied in its legitimate sphere, and 
events in history take place in quick succession, 
there will be, apparently, an accelerated lapse of 
time. For this reason, the years that have past 
seem to have glided away with an almost imper- 
ceptible motion ; and the distance between any 
two eras, as measured from the earlier one, ap- 
pears to be shorter than its actual measurement 



19 

indicates. The opposite phenomenon, for corre- 
sponding reasons, takes place in looking forward 
to the future. The mind is not crowded with re- 
sults of its own creation, or with the unforeseen 
occurrences of the world. The laws of Providence 
and the laws of Nature, we know, in the years to 
come, will not annul or cease their action; but, 
while we can foresee with certainty that the former 
will fulfil their beneficent function, it is not given 
us to know beforehand how often, or when, or to 
what extent, consequences will ensue, resulting 
from the observance or violation of the latter. 
Hence the mind, because of the want of frequent 
and specific resting-places, as it were, in measuring 
the future, is inclined to give that future a tedious 
length. I suppose that this is the reason that the 
young look upon the years as tardy in their passage, 
and as delaying the period, so ardently anticipated, 
of unbounded freedom and of the fruition of cher- 
ished hopes. But let them wait till life's experi- 
ences, both of joy and of sorrow, in long succession, 
have made their impressions upon the mind; and 
then will it be seen that the years, however im- 
patiently their lapse has been watched, have faith- 
fully conformed to the established laws of motion, 
and that the advancing years, by reason of the 
accumulation of mental possessions, seem to move 
with increased velocity. The last sands of the 



20 



hour-glass fall not more rapidly than the first, but 
how swiftly, almost imperceptibly, do the grains 
follow one another, till, in a moment, the last grain 
falls, the measure is reached, their purpose is ac- 
complished! Fifty years; how short in the past! 
how long in the future! and yet, measured by 
scientific laws, of equal length. 

The Church of this Parish was organized July 
1 8th, 17 16, one hundred and fifty-five years ago 
last July. It was the second in the order of time, 
the first church having been instituted in the West 
Parish in 1681, thirty-five years previously. The 
establishment of a ministry, however, was not 
effected in that Parish until thirteen or fourteen 
years afterward. 

The first Minister in whom you, my hearers, 
as constituting now " The First Congregational 
Society " in Bridgewater, are interested, was Rev. 
Benjamin Allen, a native of Tisbury, Martha's 
Vineyard, and a graduate of Yale College in 1708, 
of a class of three members, and the seventh that 
had received the honors of that Seminary, then in 
its infancy. His official relation embraced the 
period between August, 17 17, and October, 1730, 
a little more than thirteen years. He died at 
Cape Elizabeth, in Cumberland County, Maine, 
while holding the pastoral office there, .in 1754, 
at the age of sixty-five. 



21 



The second Minister was Rev. John Shaw. 
His life began and ended amidst the early scenes 
of these hill-sides and meadows, and the quiet 
labors of the tillers and reapers of these harvest- 
fields. His birth-place was within the east pre- 
cinct of the old town. He honored the home of 
his early days, and of his sacred office, by the 
purity of his mind and the warmth of his Christian 
affections. His memory is associated with the 
most precious annals of this Church. He was 
graduated at Harvard College, in 1729, at the age 
of twenty-one. His pastoral relation began on the 
17th of November, 1731, and ended on the 29th of 
April, 1 79 1, at the age of eighty-two, after a pro- 
tracted period of nearly sixty years. Before the 
death of this venerable man, his declining years 
were made hopeful and happy by the efficient and 
zealous services of a colleague in office. 

The Rev. Zedechiah Sanger, the third Minis- 
ter of the second Church founded in this ancient 
town, came hither with a mind richly endowed, 
and with high promise of great usefulness in his 
work. There are those now living to whom his 
memory is dear as that of a father; and others, 
not a few, who have been taught to think of 
him with honor as an advocate of peace, a patron 
of learning, a man of sanctity, and of unaffected 
modesty. It was not my happiness to know him 

4 



22 



in the vigor of his intellect, and in the maturity 
of his usefulness; but his reputation, sealed by 
integrity and purity, will not soon be lost to 
my mind, or to any mind to which it is equally 
sacred. Dr. Sanger, having previously been set- 
tled in Duxbury, was installed the 17th of Decem- 
ber, 1788. He died 17th November, 1820, aged 
seventy-three years, having held the pastorate thirty- 
two years. He was a native of Sherborn, and a 
graduate of Harvard College in 1771. The aver- 
age length of the ministry of the first three minis- 
ters was just thirty-five years. 

The fourth Minister of the Church here gathered 
and consecrated, — the present speaker, — was or- 
dained on the 12th of September, 1821. His 
connection with his people, though voluntarily on 
his part, yet not without the pang of severed affec- 
tions, was dissolved on the 27th of May, 1833, 
after a union of nearly twelve years. 

In preparing for this occasion, my friends, my 
affections have overflowed in your behalf; and, 
in giving expression to them, I trustingly bespeak, 
in corresponding measure, the indulgence of your 
patience and attention. 

The scenery that the hills and plains of Plymouth 
County, in its retired villages and isolated dwell- 
ings, presented half a century ago, has undergone 
a change such as always takes place under the 



23 

spirit of an enlightened industry and a refined and 
refining civilization. The people who travelled 
these highways, cultivated these farms, met in 
social intercourse, or assembled for the worship 
of God, when the oldest of my hearers were young, 
are not, for the most part, the same people that 
constitute society as it exists now, with its ex- 
citing interests, its aspirations, its hopes. " One 
generation passeth away, and another generation 
cometh." " Instead of the fathers are the children." 
All the ministers who officiated at my ordination, 
except two, after long years of fidelity and labor 
in the cause and work of their Lord and Master, 
sleep in honored graves. The two who still live, 
by a remarkable coincidence which I am happy 
to notice, were my college class-mates ; Mr. 
Briggs, who gave me the right hand of fellowship, 
then of the First Church in Lexington, now of 
Roxbury, in the municipality of Boston; and Mr. 
Palfrey, then of the Church in Brattle Square, 
Boston, now of Cambridge; men, who, when they 
depart hence, will leave no uncertain or insignifi- 
cant tokens of their interest in humanity or of 
their fidelity to God. 

With the exception of one, whose long life at 
this moment is giving sign of its approaching end,* 

* Rev. Joseph Richardson, of Hingham, died Sept. 25, 1S71, in the 
xcivth year of his age. 



2 4 

all the clergymen in Plymouth County, whose theo- 
logical theories and Christian faith rested on the 
only sure foundations, the Word and works of God, 
independently of all synods and reformers, and 
who, fifty years ago, were active in professional 
duty and in cordial co-operation in behalf of the Re- 
deemer's kingdom, live now only in grateful mem- 
ory, tenderly associated with the Pilgrim Fathers, 
whose graves hallow these consecrated shores. 
Nearly, or quite two hundred brethren who were 
allied to me by the ties of sacred studies and pro- 
fessional labors, and whose views were in accord- 
ance with my own in regard to the teachings, the 
affections, and the hopes of the Gospel, have, within 
the years in review, gone from the living and 
loving on earth to join the general assembly of 
immortal spirits in heaven. 

The Christian community, or, rather let me 
say, the theological world, half a century ago, was 
agitated, as it has not been since, by a doctrinal 
controversy that called into being passions and 
actions derogatory to the teachings of the Divine 
Messenger, and subversive of the spirit of His 
message. The tenderness of Jesus, the brightest 
glory of his character, and the love with which 
His word would inspire the heart of humanity, 
were set aside and unheeded amidst the excite- 
ments engendered by sectarian interests. Let it 



25 

be conceded that the arguments on this side and 
on that were presented with a courtesy, an ability, 
and a candor, that did honor to the minds and 
hearts of the disputants, more especially of the 
prominent disputants : still it was not possible in 
the community at large, easily wrought upon, and 
less under the influence of generous motives, to 
prevent the spread and effect of an intolerant and 
irreligious spirit. The tumult of the controversy 
that had thus disturbed the heart of society had 
hardly subsided, when I was invited to take charge 
of the sacred interests of the Church and congre- 
gation connected with the South Parish of Bridge- 
water, at that time standing alone in the precinct 
as a Congregational body. 

My earlier and recent education had taught me 
most of all to value the loving spirit of the Gospel. 
I had not been trained to, I had no desire to be 
engaged in, sectarian warfare. Strife I did not 
conceive to be an element of the life that springs 
from, and centres in, the only true Life, the true 
Life itself, the beloved Son of God. To my mind, 
the regenerated soul, in the kingdom that is ever- 
lasting, is a soul that lives and moves and has its 
being in a world of truth and purity, of peace 
and love ; and to the illustration and establishment 
of these primal virtues, all its energies, acted upon 
by influences from within and from without, having 



26 



received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, will be 
directed. 

I came hither not as the champion of any sect, 
other than that which acknowledges Christ as its 
head, and His spirit as the beginning and end 
of its life. I came hither to be the exponent of 
no doctrines but those which Jesus taught. If 
there was any thing that I desired above all else 
in my public relations, it was to be known and 
esteemed as a disciple and servant of Jesus Christ, 
and as the true shepherd of a Christian flock. I 
cannot conceive of a higher honor that can be 
bestowed upon man. How much, in evidence 
of its true deserving, does it imply! What a spirit 
of humility, what a deep sense of responsibility, 
does it call forth I How different is the honor that 
springs from allegiance to any master of a less 
authoritative origin ! How does the honor that 
comes from a source that reaches no higher than 
man's wisdom pale before that which is divinely 
bestowed ! " For he whom God hath sent speak- 
eth the words of God : for God giveth not the 
Spirit by measure unto him." Accordingly, when 
I was invested with the office of a Christian Min- 
ister, I determined and desired to exercise simply 
and solely that office, and to make it appear that 
it was in my heart to serve my Lord and Master, 
by drawing, with the aid that cometh from God, 



27 

subjects into the true kingdom ; to persuade men 
that the highest interests of humanity are wrapped 
up in the immortal soul ; and that all that is needed 
is the development of that soul, under the kindly 
direction of its Creator, to bring all those interests 
into true and beautiful action. The ethics of the 
Gospel, and not the polemics of the schools, occu- 
pied my studies and engaged my affections. The 
means of religion sanctioned by Jesus Christ, op- 
portunities which Providence furnished, I sought 
to commend to my people as instruments under 
God of bringing them to a true knowledge of them- 
selves, and of securing their highest and purest 
happiness, in a word, the consummation of their 
being. I was aware that, at the period of my in- 
duction to office, I was recognized as belonging 
to a distinctive denomination of Christians. My 
consecration to the Christian ministry was not, how- 
ever, with a view to gaining proselytes to a par- 
ticular creed, nor for any partisan end; but solely, 
as it became my sacred trust, for the purpose of 
saving immortal souls, — so far as it is given to 
man to do so, — in the way that our Heavenly 
Father, in His wisdom and love, has ordained; 
the way that Jesus Christ has pointed out by His 
teachings, and hallowed by His Godlike life, thus 
making it plain and beautiful to those who choose 
to become His followers. 



28 



In acknowledging myself to be a Unitarian, I 
do not suppose that I make a declaration that is 
peculiar, least of all one that is objectionable. I 
take it for granted that all Protestants believe in 
the Unity of God. " The one God and Father of 
all, who is above all, and through all, and in us 
all," claims, with absolute authority, an undivided 
homage. The least remove from such homage is 
an approach to idolatry, and not only scants, but 
corrupts, the worship that is due only to the Creator 
of the universe, who is supreme in heaven and in 
earth. I am not about to disturb any one's preju- 
dices, least of all would I do aught to cool the 
ardor of devotion in any heart by entering upon a 
discussion that would seem to divest the doctrine 
of the Trinity of any of its imputed glory. I desire 
only in the spirit of charity, and yet without the 
least wavering of confidence, to speak of the posi- 
tive Unity of God as it exists in my own mind. 

The force of early education is as persistent as 
the force of habit ; and it is with difficulty that 
either can be withstood or counteracted. In the 
case of the former, inasmuch as it originates in the 
mind, — that faculty which constitutes man to be 
man, — the results of its exercise may be of a to- 
tally different character, and consequently to be 
deprecated or commended, in proportion as it is 
guided by the power of truth or misguided b}' the 



2 9 

agency of error; whereas habit, or any particular 
habit, has reference, originally, to the action of 
some one of the functions of the bodily organiza- 
tion, involving consequences of less moment to 
essential principles. In the early direction of the 
mind, moreover, it is to be observed there are 
various influences at work, such as affection, sym- 
pathy, union of interests, which may or may not have 
the sanction of coming from an exalted source; that 
is to say, from the Fountain of Truth. We may 
say, and say it emphatically, that it is of the high- 
est importance that authority should be especially 
heeded in the spring-time of the mind's culture, 
especially in relation to its religious growth. But 
as society is now constituted, in the interdepend- 
ence of mind upon mind, I suppose it is in vain 
to look for an entire freedom from extraneous mo- 
tives, or to expect that there will generally be un- 
biassed study of the primitive principles of truth, 
or of truth as it exists in and of itself. Still, the 
axiom is none the less well founded, that the stream 
will partake of the peculiar qualities, whatever they 
may be, of the source whence it springs ; or, to 
speak without a figure, that the action of truth, so 
far as it is in the power of the human mind to ac- 
quire truth, to be possessed of positive efficacy, 
should be independent of all extraneous influences, 
save the one of paramount importance, that of the 



3° 

Holy Spirit. How essential is it that educators 
themselves be truthfully educated! Of what su- 
preme moment is it that those who would teach 
on the authority of Jesus Christ should know 
whereof they teach, in its simplicity and purity, 
its beauty and power! 

This digression, for such it may seem, on the 
subtle and controlling power of education, in its 
earliest stages, with reference to religion, has a 
significant meaning in its connection with this dis- 
course. 

Take two children of equal capacities and of 
open affections : let one of them be taught the 
Assembly's Catechism ; let him attend a Sunday 
school in which the creeds of the leaders of sects 
are made the exponents of the Word of God ; let 
the counsels and devotions of the pulpit and of the 
family, so far as they are within his comprehen- 
sion, attended too by the sympathies they inspire, 
be marked as proceeding from the same sources 
of assumed sacred learning; and can it for a mo- 
ment be doubted what will be the prejudices, or, 
if you please, opinions, of that child on the 
subject of religion in after life ? Let it be noted 
that the credibility of these opinions is not now 
within the province of our consideration. It is 
only the almost indissoluble adherence of them 
to the mind, under the circumstances which 



3i 

gave them being, with which we are at present 
concerned. 

Take the other child, and let him never have 
known of such a Catechism as that of the West- 
minster Divines, in its larger or smaller form; let 
him be entirely ignorant of creeds and sects and 
parties, the creations of ambitious leaders and bold 
theorists ; let him be taught at his mother's knee, 
under the holy influence of a mother's love, the 
truths which Jesus Christ taught, in the simple 
language of the New Testament ; let the sermon 
on the mount be made, by parental care, to interest 
his young mind and to engage his innocent affec- 
tions ; let the Lord's Day come to him not as a 
day of unwelcome study, or of irksome restraint, 
but as a day of calm enjoyment, springing from 
family endearments and from associations of high 
and immortal thought connected with the hallowed 
time : now, I am confident that, to a mind so 
trained and disciplined, the opposing teachings of 
contending theologians, in the maturity of life, 
would be strangely in conflict with its established 
convictions of Christian truth and Christian hope. 
Here, again, I wish to concede that the course of 
thought has no reference directly to the truth of 
doctrines, but only to the strong power of educa- 
tion. It is, however, to be remarked that, in the 
case of the first child whose early experiences were 



32 

noted, his opinions of what he deemed to be reve- 
lations of the Gospel were primarily derived from 
the fallible creeds of men. Whereas, in the case 
of the second child, his thoughts of divine truth 
rested primarily on the word of God, without any 
knowledge of confessions of faith originating in 
human authority. 

The preceding remarks have been introduced for 
a specific purpose. They rest on something more 
solid than the exterior of rhetoric. My own ex- 
perience confirms them. 

I was brought up by a mother, whose memory 
is deeply and tenderly sealed in my heart, to read 
the Scriptures diligently with the view of establish- 
ing myself on the true foundation of being. The 
precepts of the Great Teacher, as embodied in the 
entire sermon on the mount, were early committed 
to memory. In the ethics of the Gospel I saw a 
beauty that reflected the glory of their Author. 
With regard to the metaphysics of the schools of 
theology, I did not even know of their existence. 
The little Catechism that was put in my hands 
contained a simple declaration of the primitive 
truths of Christianity, unaccompanied by commen- 
tary and unburdened by proof-texts. The Father- 
hood of God, the Sonship of Christ, the presence 
and influence of the Holy Spirit or of God, the 
brotherhood of man, the divinity of virtue, the 



33 

curse of vice; revelations involving promises, aids, 
hopes, aspirations, that concerned man both as 
a mortal and an immortal being, were revela- 
tions that met the deep wants of the soul. They 
needed no extraneous support. They were truths 
that found a ready reception in my youthful mind. 
All the institutions that are considered as sacred 
were held in reverence by me theoretically and 
practically. With such an education of the mind 
and the heart, and with a desire, associated with 
my earliest recollections, that God in his provi- 
dence would constitute me a Minister and Servant 
in the kingdom and service of His Son, I was 
matriculated a student of Harvard College. Soon 
after entering upon my collegiate course, a dear 
friend who was then studying with a view to 
the Christian ministry, but whose studies, in his 
early manhood, were brought to an end by an 
insidious and fatal disease, — Friend of my heart; it 
cannot but be that memory is a revealer of immor- 
tality! — this friend sent me a published sermon 
of Rev. Samuel Worcester, D.D., of Salem, " On 
the Doctrine of the Trinity." I had not before so 
much as heard that this doctrine held a place in 
the creed of the Christian Church. I read the pam- 
phlet with intense interest. The arguments upon 
which the doctrine was based appeared to me to 
be entirely inconsistent, one disproving another, 



34 

and the whole at variance with my established 
ideas of the teachings of the Christian Scriptures. 
In the spirit of an inquirer after the truth, I wrote 
a review of the sermon, based on the authority of 
the New Testament, in which, to my own mind, I 
invalidated the theory advanced in the publication. 
This review was in the form of a letter to my 
friend, and constituted part of a correspondence 
that was continued until death interrupted the 
intercourse. 

From this incident in my life, — why should I 
not signalize it as an event in the providence of 
God ? — I infer, and infer with a good deal of confi- 
dence, that the doctrine of the Trinity is not a doc- 
trine of the Scriptures, but a doctrine of education, 
and that it is mainly, if not entirely, dependent 
upon the almost irresistible power of education for 
the prominent place it holds in the Christian world. 
Were it within the scope of this discourse to treat 
with fulness of the doctrine, I should have some- 
thing to say of its being a doctrine of inference, 
and also a doctrine of adaptation, to make it coin- 
cide with the theories that controversialists, in their 
limited wisdom, have set up. 

It is apposite in this connection to remark, that 
the doctrine of the Trinity, I believe, is not held 
so strictly now as formerly; and, so far as it is 
received, it is held with various modifications. To 



35 

easy minds I can imagine that, in some one of 
the man) T forms it is made to assume, it might be 
entertained with ready homage. I use the word 
"easy" in no dishonorable sense. For in the di- 
lemma supposed to exist, are not the questions 
apposite and of great comfort? Is the consumma- 
tion of being under God, or the soul's final victory, 
to depend upon an undefined position of the mind, 
fallible, though it be pre-eminent ? Is there any 
saving grace in an intellectual faith or a ceremo- 
nial creed ? Is there any innate morality in the 
hard deductions of metaphysics ? Is not the heart 
with its true affections, in the Divine account, of 
more value than the mind and its theories ? And, 
again, the potency of numbers and the charm of 
antiquity, together with the air of obscurity that 
surrounds the doctrine, may be sufficient, as in sev- 
eral cases they are known to have been sufficient, 
to justify the faith of its supporters. Confirmed 
by my personal experience, I am satisfied that the 
word of God impartially examined affords no solid 
ground for such a faith. The undivided Unity of 
God appears to me to be everywhere written on 
its pages. And if here and there a text seems con- 
tradictory of this revelation, it may be made with- 
out violence to coincide with it by just and estab- 
lished laws of Biblical criticism. As it regards 
antiquity, the undivided and unparticipated oneness 



36 



of the Divine Being, as a sublime reality, is fixed 
to no point of time within the comprehension of 
the finite mind. It dates back to that which had 
no beginning, Eternity. I may here remark, 
that I never was in favor of teaching any positive 
philosophy in relation to the "deep things of God;" 
that in the course of my preaching I never but 
once used the word " Unitarian," a word that has 
no significance, except in relation to the ecclesias- 
tical doctrine of the Trinity; that I disavowed all 
sectarianism; and that the only appellation, in con- 
nection with any communion that worshipped God 
and honored His Son, which met, or could meet my 
approbation, was the distinctive one of Christian. 

Among a people enjoying the revelations that 
come from a Divine Source, Unitarianism, in its 
true meaning, giving animation to the faculties, the 
aspirations, the hopes of the human soul, is the dis- 
tinctive faith of no one class of rational and im- 
mortal beings doing daily and devout homage to 
their high and responsible privileges and oppor- 
tunities; privileges and opportunities baptized by 
the Spirit of a loving Father, in the gracious mis- 
sion of His beloved Son to be the Saviour of the 
world. Unitarianism, as I define it, in this Script- 
ural sense, is identical with Christianity. 

By Christianity, I hardly need say, I mean that 
system of theology and divine philosophy, of which 



37 

Christ, in whom God Himself vouchsafed to dwell, 
was the Author. I have not yet learned to merge, 
in the influences that are harmonizing with the de- 
signs delineated by a Divine Hand in the ultimate 
glory of the universe, that influence which rested 
upon and abode in Him who gave full and suffi- 
cient testimony that He was the Son of God, there- 
in holding a relation which no other being ever 
did or ever will hold to the Source of all temporal 
and of all spiritual life. 

Although civilization is but a partial exponent of 
Christianity, yet I know not how adequately to 
speak of the power of Christianity in elevating and 
refining the condition of humanity. I believe that 
the Gospel in the fulness of its light and love has 
still brighter revelations to make, by which the 
world will be brought to see new avenues to pros- 
perity, new auxiliaries of social elevation, and in so 
far new sources of delight. It is one of my hap- 
piest thoughts in relation to Christianity, that it is 
not bound, that it is not made, and will not be 
made, to shut itself in by fragile creeds of to-day or 
of any da}', but that it is to manifest its wisdom 
and its power with continually increasing beauty 
and strength from age to age. 

Science and Christianity harmonize each with 
the other. It cannot but be that they should do so, 
inasmuch as they originate in the same Divine 



33 



Source. But I apprehend that science affects more 
immediately the outward relations of life, while 
Christianity affects rather those that are inward 
and spiritual. Social organization is acted upon by 
science. Civilization, involving the finer proper- 
ties of social organization, is acted upon by Chris- 
tianity. 

The achievements of science in various directions, 
within the last half century, have given additional 
proofs of the versatility and comprehensive grasp 
of the human mind. All the interests of life, com- 
mercial and industrial, educational and domestic, 
have been ameliorated and enlarged, by the dis- 
covery and subjection to skilful control of some 
of the hidden forces in the realm of Nature. The 
solar rays, in combination with chemical agencies, 
are made the means of producing pictures that 
satisfy the love of the grand and beautiful in Nature 
and Art, and the higher claims of a refined love 
springing from the heart. The traveller from a 
cherished home may now carry with him portraits 
of those who, in their absence, will live intensely 
in his affections, and on returning may bring with 
him graphic memorials of beautiful scenes, or of 
the works of celebrated masters in architecture, 
painting, and sculpture. Electricity has given 
wings, on which, in calm and in storm, are borne 
from land to land, and from continent to continent, 



39 

over mountains and under waves, thoughts affect- 
ing the interests of the civil, social, literary, and 
religious economies, indeed whatever appertains to 
the government of life. The power of steam in 
the direction and adaptation of material industries, 
and in the facilities of social intercourse which it 
affords, has been discovered and made subject to 
the laws of scientific mechanism, within the period 
of time now in review. The discovery of the an- 
aesthetic properties of ether, by which the surgeon's 
office is greatly assisted, and the patient's comfort 
essentially promoted, will not only form a promi- 
nent event in the history of recent years, but will 
frequently occasion the outpouring of devout grati- 
tude to the beneficent Giver of all good for such 
a transcendent blessing. Men of science, until a 
recent period, in their studies, have regarded the 
forces in the material world, — such as light, heat, 
electricity, cohesion, gravitation, — as unrelated to, 
and independent of one another. The opinion is now 
tending to unanimity, that there is but one force in 
the mechanism of the external world. This would 
seem to be in accordance with the harmony of de- 
sign, which is everywhere apparent to the critical 
scholar. It affords, too, a new and interesting proof 
of the Unity of the Divine Being and government. 

It is impossible but that the activities resulting 
from such liberal and enlightened sources as those 



4° 

just enumerated should tend to enlarge the public 
mind and to expand the public heart. And, ac- 
cordingly, it is with great pleasure that I testify 
that asperities which entered largely into social life, 
in generations not long antecedent to this, have 
given place to amenities more becoming beings 
alike dependent and alike provided for. 

Calvinism is not preached now as it was fifty 
years ago. It has almost ceased to be a word of 
party distinction. It is a system admirably held 
together by bonds of metaphysical invention. The 
premises that it lays down give support to its con- 
clusions, or, rather, its conclusions coincide with 
its premises according to the laws of logical de- 
duction. But it has been found that its premises 
are at variance with the teachings of Nature and 
of revelation. Truth, having its origin in God, and 
not in the mind of a fallible reformer, has set the 
system aside as derogatory to the most sacred phil- 
osophy. The sons of fathers who were, in their 
day, the sturdy advocates of the doctrine inculcated 
by the Genevan teacher, would hardly now be con- 
sidered as the representatives of their progenitors 
in the same school of theological culture. And 
a similar transformation, it must be confessed, is 
witnessed in minds disinthralled by creeds, and 
earnest for the earliest revelation. 

I have learned, in my somewhat protracted study 



4i 

of life, to place little confidence in the efficacy of 
creeds and forms of worship in bringing man to a 
true knowledge of himself, and of his relation to 
his Maker. Means are valuable as means, but they 
can never be substituted for the end which they 
were intended to subserve. The soul must re- 
ceive a baptism which owes its essence to some- 
thing that partakes not of humanity. " Where the 
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty;" not temporal 
liberty alone, but, in a large and triumphant sense, 
spiritual liberty, " the liberty wherewith Christ hath 
made us free." 

All denominations have had representative men 
and representative women to do honor to their 
respective communions, men and women who have 
illustrated the principles of Christianity in the 
spirit of an enlightened liberality. And the sooner, 
I believe, the shibboleths of party are made to 
yield to the doctrines of the Great Teacher, who 
spake as the Spirit of God gave Him utterance, 
the sooner will the regeneration of the world be 
consummated, and the kingdom ol truth, peace, 
and love be established. 

Experience and observation are sometimes the 
sources of valuable thoughts and of useful counsels. 
Wisdom, it may be, is slow in adding to what it 
has already accumulated; but it is in the power of 
every enlightened mind, if not to increase, at least 



4 2 

to attest its wealth. Care, however, should be had 
that to the contributions of learning, and of its im- 
mediate results, the seal of truth should be affixed. 
I would not seem to impugn the purity or sincerity 
of mental effort or of mental acquirement. I would 
not be thought to question the soundness of motive 
in maintaining independence of opinion in opposi- 
tion to the general sentiment. But it is possible, 
I suppose, that some incentive in the interests of 
selfishness or of ambition, or, perchance, of some far- 
off truth, may tempt or prompt to the promulgation 
of doctrines, seemingly at least, in discordance with 
the results of philosophical inquiry. There is no 
path of life, whether humble or exalted, that is en- 
tirely free from the temptations that are meant to 
test the excellence of virtue. And in no path of 
life should there be greater freedom from unworthy 
motives than in that which is pursued or supposed 
to be pursued in the love of truth and goodness, of 
humanity and of God. 

One thought which has never left me, and which 
increase of years has tended to confirm, is the nec- 
essity of co-operation ; not in word only, but in 
deed ; not apparently, but really, on the part of 
those who have in hand, and who, it is to be pre- 
sumed, have at heart, the consummation of the 
world's happiness, — the establishment of the king- 
dom of Christ on earth. Individualism is selfish- 



43 

ness. God did not intend that we should live an 
isolated life, insensible to others' wants, unmoved 
by others' woes. He has endowed us with powers 
and affections which ally us to the suffering and 
unfortunate, and also to the good and noble. The 
State shows itself to be actuated by the highest 
Christian principles in endowing hospitals for the 
deaf and dumb, the blind, the insane, the idiotic, and 
caring with an open hand and generous heart for 
those who cannot care for themselves. In this re- 
gard it imitates the benignity and universality 
of Providence. Christ himself went about doing 
good. If we would be His followers, we must 
make Him, so far as we can, our Guide. If we 
would be His disciples, we must learn of Him as 
our Teacher. The spirit of love was pre-eminently 
in Him: it should be predominant in us. The 
Apostle Paul gave an illustration of the full mean- 
ing of Christianity in the precept, "Bear ye one 
another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." 

The miracles that Jesus wrought involved bene- 
fits and blessings to the indigent and wretched. 
They never had reference to His own preferment, 
or to any ostentatious end. We who are disciples 
of Christ and votaries of His cause have something- 
to do. The whole is not already done for us. We 
must take up the cross each for himself, each for 
herself, and not wait to have it taken up for us. 



44 

Vicarious suffering is an obsolete doctrine of a by- 
gone generation of ecclesiastical sectarians. It is 
well, for the honor of God, for the honor of Christ, 
for the honor of humanity, that personal piety and 
benevolent activity are recognized as the constit- 
uent principles of the Christian religion. Let them 
be personally and heartily recognized. They are 
the guarantees, the sure guarantees, of happiness, 
of true happiness in this and in every world. 
Heaven, to be heaven at all, must be begun on 
earth. The facilities for Christian education, and 
the opportunities of Christian improvement, enlarge 
and expand from age to age and from generation 
to generation. The advantages of culture of all 
kinds are superior now to what they were a cen- 
tury or a half century ago. And the truth of the 
same observation will be confirmed by a compari- 
son with still earlier periods. In the progress of 
years it is applicable from one age to another. The 
sons of farmers have greater facilities than their 
fathers for the pursuits of agriculture. All classes 
of people have more and better facilities for indus- 
try and thrift than their predecessors had ; the 
mechanic at his anvil or his bench, the merchant 
in his counting-room, the teacher in his lecture- 
room. So ministers of the present day should do 
better and accomplish more because of their better 
means and greater advantages. The same law, 



45 

both in its meaning and application, applies as well 
to the people or charge of ministers. Account- 
ableness will always be in proportion to advantages. 
And improvement will always be in proportion to 
the eagerness with which advantages are made 
availing. 

The law of development, everywhere in motion, 
is continually demanding a higher grade of power 
for immediate and successful action. 

I have no distrust with regard to the future of 
Christianity. That there will be some changes in 
its ministrations, it is very probable. I suppose, 
and the supposition is founded on an ardent hope, 
that intelligent and pure-minded laymen will speak 
eloquently and earnestly in defence and in honor of 
the Son of God. The earnest voice and the warm 
heart, trained and disciplined by study and prayer, 
and not written sermons, I apprehend, will be the 
practical sources of religious instruction. The 
manifestations of Christianity will be more in the 
life inspired by benevolence, and less through ap- 
pointed means ; or, rather, means will be regarded 
more as instruments and less as ends. At all 
events, I have a firm belief that the law of progress 
will have full scope, and that the all holy and lov- 
ing Father will be glorified by greater and nobler 
deeds and higher aspirations of his children. The 
prayer, " x Thy kingdom come," will have a pro- 



4 6 

founder meaning in saintly minds, and a deeper 
place in saintly hearts. It will be gradually ful- 
filled. 

Were I to entertain a doubt of the consumma- 
tion of the will of God in the emancipation of man 
from sin, and in his elevation to absolute freedom ; 
in other words, were I to doubt of the coming of 
the kingdom of Christ, I should mistrust the benev- 
olence of God. I see everywhere in Nature evi- 
dences and tokens of infinite goodness and of infi- 
nite love. I see not only beneficent means adapted 
to beneficent ends, but those ends accomplished. 
I see in the moral world beautiful examples of self- 
dedication and self-sacrifice that must have received 
a baptism from the Spirit of God. The teachings 
of Nature, the teachings of a pure life, all in accord- 
ance with the teachings of Christ, tell me that there 
is a Divine Being who is all in all that is true and 
beautiful and good, and that the emanation is as 
eternal as the Source whence it emanates. Are 
you troubled about the meaning of Christianity ? 
The simplicity of its meaning is an evidence of its 
divinity. Christianity means a true life. Jesus 
said, " I am come that they might have life, and 
that they might have it more abundantly." " 1 am 
the Way, the Truth, and the Life." " Christ, our 
Life," is the emphatic declaration of St. Paul. 
There is no discrepancy between a true life and 



47 

Christianity. They coincide each with the other. 
A true life, the first characteristic of which is benev- 
olence, has its spring in God, through the Spirit of 
Christ. It is the highest honor to which humanity 
can aspire. It is an honor attainable here only 
with many imperfections, and to be consummated 
in eternity alone. 

My friends, I greet you gladly on the present 
occasion. You are, except in a very few instances, 
but the children and grand-children of those who 
saw me, in my youth, dedicate myself to the ser- 
vice of God, in the Kingdom of His beloved Son ; 
a service which I never for one moment desired 
to relinquish. I can look back upon the scenes 
and duties of my ministry, and think with gratitude 
that, amidst the contending elements of party strife, 
I never, in any one instance, gave occasion for 
alienation of heart from me ; and, moreover, I am 
happy in the reflection that my affection for all the 
people of Bridgewater, whatever may have been 
their opinions in regard to theological theories, has 
been sincerely reciprocated by them. Memories 
crowd upon my mind; memories suggestive of 
lessons which are not even now without their in- 
struction. The signs of thrift and happiness that 
meet the eye in these streets and these homes 
show, in a marked manner, the steps of progress 



48 



since fifty years ago. The fathers and mothers 
who here joined with me in the worship of God, 
though lost to sight, are yet to memory dear. Their 
virtues, as depicted in- my own mind, if they were 
portrayed in the minds of some of you as the 
virtues of those whom you fondly loved, would, 
I apprehend, touch affections of a heavenly origin 
and of a heavenly end. 

Vain were it, my friends, that this opportunity of 
reviving recollections of the tenderest character was 
given to me and to you, if it fail to impart new 
animation and brightness to the principles and 
hopes of the Christian life. Oh, friends ! what- 
ever else fail you, let not the hope of heaven fail 
you, because of your negligence or indifference. 
As mortal and immortal beings, your duty and your 
happiness are involved each in the other. A benef- 
icent God requires nothing of you but what your 
own highest interests, as beings having mental and 
affectional capacities, would demand. How much 
greater are your obligations as beings born for im- 
mortality ! 

My brother, I greet you cordially as one of my 
successors in the ministry here. May the Holy 
Spirit be richly vouchsafed to you. Guard this 
Church that it may live the true life. And, that it 
may so live, see to it that it draws its life from the 



49 

Fountain of Truth. A servant of the Divine Mas- 
ter, a Church, the life of which w is hid with Christ 
in God," each reflecting the light of the other, and 
mutually giving and receiving vitality, may these be 
ever open sources of vigor and zeal in the exercise 
of your sacred office. And may the record which 
the years to come shall make be a record of prog- 
ress and of prosperity, over which they, in future 
generations, who shall be permitted to read it, will 
rejoice with exceeding joy. God speed thee, my 
brother! 

Brethren, the grave awaits me. It is not proba- 
ble that Providence has in charge for me a greater 
or more grateful labor than that which I have now 
performed. It will be a pleasant reflection, in the 
closing hours of my life, that the latest words I was 
permitted to utter in my official capacity were 
words of Christian counsel and of Christian cheer 
to the people of my early charge, the First Church 
of Christ in Bridgewater. Dear friends, God bless 
you ; God bless you all. Farewell. 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 



"DRIDGEWATER, as originally constituted, was a 
"^ large township, embracing an area of some sixty 
or seventy square miles. It was divided into four par- 
ishes, taking the distinctive names of the cardinal points. 
The action of the town in relation to its civil interests 
took place annually, and as often as might be necessary, 
at meetings of the people legally assembled in the West 
Parish, the oldest in the possession of corporate rights. 

In August, 1820, according to the Assistant Marshal's 
return of the census, — including Titicut Parish, which 
numbered 322, — the entire population of the Bridgewater 
Parishes was 5,662. The State census in 1865 gave the 
number of inhabitants as 15,333. The official census of 
the United States in 1870 gave the number as 16,490. 

Ineffectual attempts, at various times, were made by 
all the parishes, except the West, prior to 182 1, to be 
incorporated as independent towns. On the 15th of Jan- 
uary, 1 82 1, the Legislature gave to the North Parish the 
name of " North Bridgewater," with the right of manag- 
ing its public affairs. On the 16th of February, 1822, a 
similar right, with the name of " West Bridgewater," 
was granted to the West Parish ; and in the year follow- 
ing, 1823, on the 14th of June, the East Parish, adopting 



54 



the name of " East Bridgewater," was legally permitted 
to assume the privileges and responsibilities of a free 
corporation. The original charter was thus left in the 
possession of the South Parish, with the ancestral name 
of " Bridgewater." 

The number of inhabitants in the " South Parish " in 
1820 was 1,692. An official record of 1830 gives the 
number as 1,855. ^ n I S65, the State census reported 
the number of inhabitants in "Bridgewater" to be 4,196. 
The United States census of 1870 gives 3,660, a dimin- 
ished number. There were 18 public schools in 1870, 
with an average attendance of 521 scholars in winter, and 
496 in summer. 

My first visit to Bridgewater, in reference to its relig- 
ious interests, was in February, 1820. It was the cus- 
tom, supported by law, at that remote period, for the 
town-clerk publicly to announce in the meeting-house, 
after the people and minister were assembled on the 
Lord's day, the intention of marriage by parties whom it 
concerned. This was always a matter of peculiar interest. 

Another custom was, — a custom of courtesy, — for the 
occupants of pews on the centre aisle of the church, while 
the minister was passing in, to rise, and to remain in that 
position until he had ascended the pulpit. The same 
ceremony recurred at the close of public worship, on his 
departure from the church. This custom, however, was 
abolished soon after I came into office, at my request. 

Another custom that prevailed at the time under review, 
but which is now, I believe, not generally observed, 
was that of having written notes publicly read from the 
pulpit, asking for special prayers for individuals or fami- 
lies in affliction ; or imploring the interposition of a 



55 

beneficent Providence in behalf of the sick. Occasion- 
ally thank-offerings were presented for restoration to 
health, or the opening of a new source of domestic happi- 
ness. Departures on long journeys, and safe returns 
to loved homes, called for intercession and invited 
thanksgiving in the worship of God. At the present 
day it is deemed more in accordance with a delicate 
sensibility, and more in the spirit of a true Christian 
sympathy, to embrace in our devotional affections at the 
public altar all who, whether in joy or in sorrow, in 
anxiety, or in relief from danger, have particularly 
come under the discipline of Divine Providence. I 
regard this remembrance, at the Throne of Grace, of 
dependent, suffering, rejoicing humanity, as one of the 
most beautiful offices of prayer, and one of the blessed 
incidents of communion with God. There, at that 
Throne, which is everywhere, the baptized of the Father 
and of the Son may meet and be spiritually one, par- 
takers of the true life. 

At the beginning of the summer of 182 1, I was again 
invited to supply the pulpit of the First Congregational 
Soeiety in the South Parish of Bridgewater. On the 2d 
of July a call was extended to me to assume the official 
charge of the Church, and the pastoral care of the peo- 
ple. On Sunday, the 22d of July, my affirmative reply 
to this call was read to the congregation by the Rev. 
Richard Briggs of Mansfield. 

Of the ten gentlemen who were appointed a committee 
in behalf of the Parish to invite me " to settle with them as 
their gospel minister," not one is now living. The Parish 
Clerk also, whose name appears in the official document, 
is numbered with the dead. 



L.ufC. 



56 



The following list is presented for the historical interest 
it may have : — 

Deacon James Alger . . Born 22 Oct., 1770, died 2 Nov., 1844 
Deacon Cornelius Holmes „ 3 Dec, 1754, „ 17 Oct., 1847 



Nathan Lazell, Esq. . 
Dr. Noah Fearing . . 
Capt. Benjamin Pope 
Seth Washeurn, Esq. . 
Nathan Mitchell, Esq. 
Daniel Mitchell, Esq. 
Sylvanus Pratt . . . 
Alpheus Forbes . . . 



, 18 May, 1759, » 2 ° June, l8 32 

, 28 Nov., 1769, „ 20 June, 1824 

, 13 May, 1765, „ 17 Mch., 1846 

, 23 Sep., 1776, „ 29 April, 1858 

, 16 Oct., 1762, „ 10 June, 1845 

, 13 June, 1767, „ 16 April, 1S47 

, 20 May, 1770, „ 11 Jan, 1833 

, 30 June, 1756, „ 12 April, 1839 

Attest, Holmes Sprague, Clerk. 



H. Sprague Born 21 Dec, 1783, died 13 Oct, 1869. 

The record may be here appropriately made that all 
the members of the Church, twenty-five males and 
thirty-eight females, who were active and acting at the 
time of my ordination, have deceased. 

The council invited to solemnize my ordination was 
convened on the 12th of September, 1821, in the Academy 
building, then occupying a part of the present site of the 
hotel. Rev. John Reed, D.D., of the West Parish, 
was chosen Moderator ; and Rev. John Gorham Pal- 
frey, of the Church in Brattle Square, Boston, Scribe. 
After an explicit examination of the candidate as to his 
theological education, religious character, and motives 
for desiring the sacred office, and a presentation of a 
written summary of his Christian belief, it was voted to 
attend his ordination at the meeting-house. During a 
short recess, there was a meeting of the brethren of the 
Church, presided over, in accordance with a vote of the 
council, by Rev. James Kendall, of Plymouth, when 



57 

the candidate was admitted to full membership by the 
voice of the Church, and the new relation was presented 
to the Throne of Grace for consecration by the presiding 
clergyman. The candidate was robed in the clerical 
dress of the time, consisting of a cassock, belt, gown and 
bands. This rich and costly suit was the gift of the 
ladies of the Parish ; an appropriate and pleasing ex- 
pression of their interest in the occasion, and of their 
good hope of the ministry inaugurated. The procession, 
preceded by a band of music and the Executive Com- 
mittee of the Parish, marched to the church, where the 
solemnities took place in the following order : Rev. 
Ralph Sanger, of Dover, offered the introductory 
prayer; Rev. Charles Lowell, of the West Church, 
Boston, preached the sermon from Acts xx. 20 ; Rev. 
Thaddeus Mason Harris, D.D., of the First Parish 
in Dorchester, offered the ordaining prayer ; Rev. John 
Prince, LL.D., of the First Church in Salem, crave the 
charge ; Rev. Charles Briggs, of the First Church in 
Lexington, presented the Right Hand of Fellowship, 
and Rev. John Gorham Palfrey, of the Church in 
Brattle Square, Boston, made the concluding prayer. 
The benediction was pronounced by the newly ordained 
pastor. The sermon and charge were printed. Not- 
withstanding unfavorable weather, the occasion had 
gathered a large and attentive audience. After the 
public services, the council and invited guests dined in 
the Academy hall, which was handsomely decorated. 
Rev. Peter Whitney, of the First Congregational 
Church in Quincy, asked the Divine blessing ; and Rev. 
Edward Richmond, D.D., of the Third Congrega- 
tional Church in Dorchester, returned thanks. 



S§ 



On the Lord's day following my 'ordination, I preached 
on the reciprocal duties of pastor and people. In the 
forenoon, the text was 2 Tim. iv. 5, which led my 
thoughts to self-admonition. In the afternoon, the text 
was 1 Thess. v. 12, 13, which suggested the duties of 
the Church and Society in view of the new relation 
that had been formed. 

My parish register contains the names of one hundred 
and eighty families. 

In 1822, April 9, I began a course of religious instruc- 
tion specially for the improvement of children. 

In 1823, July 6th, a Sunday School was organized. 

In 1828, June 10th, a juvenile library was opened. 

In 1831, May and June, there was an unusual interest in 
regard to religion ; and many, by the blessing of God, 
through the teachings of His Son, were led to feel and 
to acknowledge their Christian obligations and privileges. 

In 1832, January, February, March, scarlatina pre- 
vailed among children. A large number died. 

In the course of my ministry I married eighty-four 
couples. 

The average number of deaths annually was twenty. 

The notes in this relation might be extended, but the 
object contemplated is answered at this point. 



Early in 1822, a "Congregational Trinitarian Society" 
was organized, and a house of worship for its use 
erected in the southern part of the town. After a 
union of a few years, a portion of this parish, with 



5 

its minister, — still living, honored, and esteemed, though 
in the serene twilight of old age, — thought it proper to 
form themselves into a new body of Christians, and to 
establish a new place of worship in the central village. 

In 1824, March nth, a society, in accordance with 
the doctrines of Emmanuel Swedenborg, was instituted ; 
and on the 20th September, 187 1, a new and commo- 
dious house of worship was solemnly set apart for its use. 

There is also a Roman Catholic Church in the town. 

In 1821, besides the Congregational, there was one 
other, — the Protestant Episcopal Church, — in Bridge- 
water. Since that time there have been added four 
houses of public worship. May truth and hope, illu- 
mined by purity and love, be inscribed on their walls ! 



A.Ob i 



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